Ocala firefighters unhappy as impasse with city nears end

By Carlos E. MedinaCorrespondent

Published: Monday, September 30, 2013 at 8:28 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, September 30, 2013 at 8:28 p.m.

On Monday, the Ocala City Council voted against giving city firefighters raises, changed the rules for overtime and vacation, took away longevity pay and set the stage for firefighters to continue working without a collective bargaining agreement in place.

With the council's actions, the more than three years of negotiations, which included the use of a special magistrate, to try to solve the impasse between the city and the firefighters' union nears an end.

But it does not sit well with the members of Professional Firefighters of Ocala IAFF Local 2135.

“They have shown they do not care about the firefighters in Ocala. Because of what they did here today, the city is going to lose experienced firefighters to other agencies,” said Robert Altman, union president and a captain with the Ocala Fire Department.

The council voted nearly unanimously with the city's administration on the few issues that have been sticking points in ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement. The council's decision will now go to the union membership, which will likely vote against ratification of the deal. If the union does not accept the council's final offer, it would return to the council, which could enact the provisions by a vote.

On Monday, each of the issues was taken separately.

On the question of overtime, the council voted unanimously to cut mandatory overtime pay from double-time to time-and-a-half. The decision also extends the pay period to 28 days rather than 14 days and stops including sick time and vacation time when calculating overtime.

“By making sick time non-productive, it is a pay cut for firefighters. No question,” said Jim Brantley, an attorney for the union.

The argument from the city, which was applied to all the outstanding issues, was that the changes bring the fire department's benefits and pay rules in line with other city employees, including the Ocala Police Department.

The department's sick leave also was tweaked. It kept disciplinary action in effect for excessive use of sick time, but cut a provision that gave firefighters some extra vacation time if they used less than two days of sick time in a year.

The council also agreed that firefighters needed to use their sick time and vacation time when taking family medical leave.

The union asked for a salary adjustment for fiscal year 2012-2013, which ended Monday, and a $1,000 base pay increase for 2014 and 2015. The council voted for no raises and also cut the longevity pay benefit.

Matt Brower, city manager, said the economy was still too weak to commit to pay raises.

“The water is kind of churning. It's kind of dark. It's not offering a whole lot of direction or a whole lot of clarity. And in fact the future is quite uncertain. ... The city's revenues are still very slow to recover,” he said.

Brantley argued that while the city pleaded poverty, they continued funding money-losing enterprises.

“The justification for no wage increase was, 'We don't have the money. We're broke ...,' but we are floating a failing municipal golf course,” he said, pointing out that Ocala Golf Course lost $724,705 for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

Brantley said the wage increases they were proposing would cost $141,000 a year for the three-year contract.

“We need to change the face of the council. We need to use the power of the vote,” Altman said.

<p>On Monday, the Ocala City Council voted against giving city firefighters raises, changed the rules for overtime and vacation, took away longevity pay and set the stage for firefighters to continue working without a collective bargaining agreement in place.</p><p>With the council's actions, the more than three years of negotiations, which included the use of a special magistrate, to try to solve the impasse between the city and the firefighters' union nears an end.</p><p>But it does not sit well with the members of Professional Firefighters of Ocala IAFF Local 2135.</p><p>“They have shown they do not care about the firefighters in Ocala. Because of what they did here today, the city is going to lose experienced firefighters to other agencies,” said Robert Altman, union president and a captain with the Ocala Fire Department.</p><p>The council voted nearly unanimously with the city's administration on the few issues that have been sticking points in ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement. The council's decision will now go to the union membership, which will likely vote against ratification of the deal. If the union does not accept the council's final offer, it would return to the council, which could enact the provisions by a vote.</p><p>On Monday, each of the issues was taken separately.</p><p>On the question of overtime, the council voted unanimously to cut mandatory overtime pay from double-time to time-and-a-half. The decision also extends the pay period to 28 days rather than 14 days and stops including sick time and vacation time when calculating overtime.</p><p>“By making sick time non-productive, it is a pay cut for firefighters. No question,” said Jim Brantley, an attorney for the union.</p><p>The argument from the city, which was applied to all the outstanding issues, was that the changes bring the fire department's benefits and pay rules in line with other city employees, including the Ocala Police Department.</p><p>The department's sick leave also was tweaked. It kept disciplinary action in effect for excessive use of sick time, but cut a provision that gave firefighters some extra vacation time if they used less than two days of sick time in a year.</p><p>The council also agreed that firefighters needed to use their sick time and vacation time when taking family medical leave.</p><p>The union asked for a salary adjustment for fiscal year 2012-2013, which ended Monday, and a $1,000 base pay increase for 2014 and 2015. The council voted for no raises and also cut the longevity pay benefit.</p><p>Matt Brower, city manager, said the economy was still too weak to commit to pay raises.</p><p>“The water is kind of churning. It's kind of dark. It's not offering a whole lot of direction or a whole lot of clarity. And in fact the future is quite uncertain. ... The city's revenues are still very slow to recover,” he said.</p><p>Brantley argued that while the city pleaded poverty, they continued funding money-losing enterprises.</p><p>“The justification for no wage increase was, 'We don't have the money. We're broke ...,' but we are floating a failing municipal golf course,” he said, pointing out that Ocala Golf Course lost $724,705 for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.</p><p>Brantley said the wage increases they were proposing would cost $141,000 a year for the three-year contract.</p><p>“We need to change the face of the council. We need to use the power of the vote,” Altman said.</p>